Koinu
by Kuro no Kaze
Summary: There's a special surprise in store for Natsuki. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; I'm just borrowing them to make myself feel better. Characters may be OOC seeing as how this is my first ShizNat fic, let alone my first Mai-HiME fic. Don't criticize it too much, please. Enjoy!

We're so different, she and I. Everyone knows me, adores me. She sulks in the shadows where she cannot be seen. I have many friends. She has an impressive grand total of three. I'm calm and quiet. She's…well, she can be quiet at times but most of the time, I can hear her yelling at someone for some reason or another. She's been told about it many times. Calm, she definitely is not. But she doesn't need anyone to tell her that. The list of differences between us is a long one, one I do not wish to continue. Given all of our differences though, we are still together, never to be separated. It's been that way for a year and a half. No matter what we go through, no matter how many obstacles stand in our way, we will persevere. Even being HiME's. It is a burden that we both share, but we share it together now. I still remember the day when I made her happier than she had ever been. Let me explain.

It was a bright, sunny, Saturday morning and my Natsuki was lying in her usual place; in my arms, her head on my shoulder, wrapped in a light blanket. She thought she had woken up first and didn't have the heart or desire to move as it would wake me up. Unbeknownst to her though, I was already awake. I had been for the previous ten minutes or so, just watching her sleep. I wondered what my girlfriend had been dreaming about. When her emerald eyes finally cleared of sleep, she looked up at me and smiled. I love her smile. I smiled back and felt her tense as she stretched her body against mine. When her stretch was finished, I moved my face close to hers and kissed her lightly, then kissed her forehead before she hugged me closely. There was nothing planned that particular day and we were in no rush to leave our little piece of heaven. We would have been content to just lie there all day if it weren't for our noisy stomachs complaining about their lack of nourishment. Of course, upon hearing both of our stomachs grumbling so much at almost the same time, we broke into laughter and decided to move down to the kitchen for food. We both stood up from the bed and moved slowly as we dressed, savoring the fact that we both had a day of nothing but each other ahead of us. I was finished before her, not surprising.

I caught her off guard when I slid my arms around her waist from behind, resting my chin on her right shoulder. I heard her sigh softly and began to wonder what was wrong. Before I had the chance to ask, she started to speak. "Don't worry. Everything's fine." she rubbed my arm to reassure your words. "I'm just really happy." I smirked at her response before she turned around to face me. Placing her arms up and around my neck, she looked into my eyes and smiled fully. Leaning forward, I kissed her full on with all the passion I could muster. Leaving one hand on her hip, I lift my other to her face and caress her cheek as she leaned into my touch. She ended the kiss before it got too heated and we ended up wasting all the effort we put into getting our clothes on. I don't pull away completely as I press my forehead to hers, keeping my eyes closed. After a time of silence, she finally spoke.

"Where do you want to go to eat?" she asked, making me open my eyes. One corner of my mouth quirked up in thought. I had a surprise in store for her that I had come up with only days before. "Actually, I have a meeting with my father in a little while and he wants to buy me breakfast. Can my Natsuki settle for having lunch out with me instead?" I needed her to believe me for my plan to work. Hoping my fib was passable, I waited for her response. In reality, I was to meet up with Mai and Mikoto as they were helping me.

Her grin that was ever-present a moment ago disappeared in an instant. I felt bad for disappointing her but it would be well worth it in the end. "Yeah, I can handle that. What time do you have to go?" she asked as her grip on me loosened. I reinforced my hold on her and softly stroked her hair before answering. " Soon," I whispered. A few moments later, I let her go. "Let's go out to the living room." Knowing she wanted – needed – to stay with me, she came with me, keeping a tight hold on my hand for the entire 15 second journey from our bedroom to our couch. She sat down first, pulling me down with her. "Do you have to go?" I hear the sadness in her voice and a grin appears on my face. "Yes, I have to go. I won't be gone long though. I promise I'll come home as soon as the meeting is over and Natsuki can have me all to herself again." I playfully poked her in the ribs and she jumped. "That's not fair," she whined. I cocked my head slightly and smirked before looking at my watch. "Time for me to go."

I stood up slowly but she remained sitting, arms crossed, a small pout on her face. "Don't make that face, Natsuki. It'll get stuck," I teased. She just stuck her tongue out at me then went back to her pouting that I loved so much. "Is Natsuki threatening me?" I watched as her face went through about 7 different shades of red before I moved closer to her, leaned down, and kissed her lightly. "I'll be back soon," I whisper before turning to walk out the front door. I glanced over my shoulder at her one last time before leaving and she waved. "This is it," I told myself. "My Natsuki is going to be so happy." Smiling triumphantly, I walked to my car and got in before pulling out my cell phone and calling Mai, telling her to meet me at the predetermined place.

I don't know what she did for the entire two and a half hours I was gone, but she didn't leave the house. She told me that much when I returned home. "What did your dad want?" she asked with a suspicious tone as I placed a bag on our counter. "Does Natsuki not believe I seen my father?" I retorted, turning on my heel to face her. Her eyes closed to little slits as she examined me closely. "I don't know," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "What's in the bag?" She tried to peek inside but I kept my body between her and the bag. My surprise wasn't in the bag but if she had seen inside, everything would have been spoiled. "It's nothing important and it's not for you," I said as I put my hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back. "Can you run upstairs and get the charger for my phone?" After she nodded and started to walk towards our bedroom, I waved out the window for Mai and Mikoto to hurry inside. I purposely hid my charger as it was part of my plan. As my girlfriend searched for the device, I had Mai set up a spot on the couch with the blanket she had been hanging on to for the past 45 minutes or so. Once she was finished, Mikoto gently placed something on top of the heap, covered it up, and walked away, a hopeful glint in her eye as well as mine and Mai's. I knew Natsuki would love it but a part of me was still nervous. "Did you find it, Natsuki?" I called out, hoping she was ready to give up her search. A few seconds later, I heard the frustrated respond. "It's not up here."

When she came back downstairs, she was surprised to find her friends in the house. "Hi, guys. What are you doing here?" My girl never meant to sound as though she didn't want them there and both Mai and Mikoto knew that. "Just stopping by to see how you are, Natsuki-chan," Mai offered. She seemed to believe the orange-haired as she nodded. "Well, let's go sit in the living room." An ultra-bright smile came to my face quickly as I waited for my girl to see her surprise. We all followed her into the living room, where she stopped short. She stared at the lump on the couch as it moved under the blanket. "What is that?" she asked, walking slowly toward the couch. None of us said anything as she cautiously reached out to uncover whatever it was that was sitting on our couch. I put my hands together in a praying motion and brought them to my face, hoping to see a smile come to my angel's face. Sure enough, once she removed the blanket and seen the little German Shepard pup, she completely lit up and I breathed a sigh of relief. The little month-year-old lump of brown and black fur wriggled around on the blanket, practically screaming, "Pick me up and love me."

"Shizuru, I," my girl said, not getting much else out after that. I walked up to her, wrapping my arms around her waist. Moving my mouth close to her ear, I softly whispered, "I knew you were lonely." Natsuki turned around quickly and looked me square in the eye. "I've got you. How can you say I'm lonely?" I could hear the hurt in her voice and regretted my choice of words. Out of the corner of my eye, I seen Mai and Mikoto sneaking out of the house. I made a mental note to call and thank them later. "I didn't mean lonely. Not in the same definition anyway," I managed. "I just meant that I knew you missed Duran." Her face softens a little and she gives me a small, understanding smile before hugging me. "Thank you," I hear her say.

A second later, she let me go and went back over to the couch. Gently picking up the pup, she turned around, and sat on the floor, her back against the couch. "How long have you been planning this?" I shrug as I sit down in front of her. "Just the past two days or so." I watch her as she pets the puppy and smiles. She glared up at me but smiled. "You're tricky." She studied the little dog for a few minutes before speaking again. "Just how did you know that I wanted a German Shepard?" I smirk and moved beside her. "You mentioned it a few times last week."

She cradled the pup in one arm and used her free hand to take mine, intertwining our fingers. "He's great." I feel her slightly tense and watch as she carefully holds the puppy up, confirming its gender. I chuckled as she brought the animal back down against her chest. "I love you, Shizuru," she whispered before looking at me. I smiled then brought our combined hands up and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. She started laughing unexpectedly and I looked down to see what had caused it. The puppy had decided to start licking her arm. We both continued to laugh until our sides hurt. "So, what are you going to call him?" I watched as she thought for a few seconds. "I don't know. What do you think? He's yours, too." "But I got him for you." "But you're a part of me." Her last comment completely caught me off guard and I couldn't think of any comeback. Smiling triumphantly, she looked from me to the dog and quickly decided on his name. "Koinu," she said confidently. I chuckled, surprised. I figured she would have called him Duran. Once she decided not to change his name from Koinu, we decided to spend the rest of the day playing with the dog.

AN: Ok, yeah. I know that was a crappy way to end this but believe me, I will revise it. Thanks for reading and please review.


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